The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

There have frequently been local filmmakers who churn out movies for the drive-in circuit, making a decent profit for themselves along the way.  While drive-ins have given way to direct-to-video and now, in some ways, to going direct to streaming, many directors like Herschell Gordon Lewis and Roger Corman didn't get the appreciation they deserved during their lifetime.  After all, they were making movies for money, not art, although someone like Corman had the ability to do both, even if he was loathe to admit it. 

Bill Rebane is one of those, and though he pretty much worked and filmed in the northern Wisconsin town of Gleason he managed to get his films out there.  Like most directors of his type he tried to get what actors he could, often big names on the down slope of their careers mixed with amateurs he could get locally.  Like the others his recipe was successful, and, even if his movies were not good by any stretch of the imagination, they were at least entertaining and fun to watch.  The Giant Spider Invasion is a grand example of that.

When a strange falling star lands in a field owned by Kester (Robert Easton) and his wife Ev (Leslie Parrish), the two go looking to find what it was.  They discover strange rocks that contain what appear to be diamonds, leading Kester to think that he struck it rich.  What they don't notice is that the other thing the rocks contained were spiders that hatch and begin nesting in their home.

When a military plane goes down over northern Wisconsin Dr. Vance (Steve Brodie) is sent to investigate along with local university professor Dr. Jenny Langer (Barbara Hale).  They discover that the object was not a meteor, but a miniature black hole.  The sheriff (Alan Hale Jr.) begins to get reports of giant spiders attacking, and sure enough the main one destroys the Kester home with Ev's sister Terry (Diane Lee Hart) inside it.  She is rescued by her boyfriend David (Kevin Brodie), but the spider itself seems unstoppable unless Dr. Vance and Dr. Langer can come up with a way to close the black hole. 

The Giant Spider Invasion was made for around 300,000 dollars and featured a Volkswagen Beetle with a spider puppet attached.  The rear lights were used for its eyes, the car driven in reverse and the occupants operating the legs.  There was also another full-size spider puppet with people inside to operate it.  Somehow, though, this just adds to the fun of the film, which, though rated PG at the time, contains characters that would be at home in a John Waters film.  It also contains dialog and acting that would be as well. 

Surprisingly it also contains (other than giant spiders coming through and some Wesley Crusher type solution to it) some rather accurate ideas of what a miniature black hole would be like, at least from the time period.  In fact, this is probably the first movie of its type to mention such things, including the area around the singularity being warped by the gravitational field.  This is because of a collision of two scripts, one by Richard L. Huff, who wanted to do a halfway serious take on '50s monster films, and Robert Easton, who wanted it to be more of a parody of such.  Rather than choose one Rebane just jammed them together and hoped for the best.

It surprisingly worked.  The Giant Spider Invasion was one of the highest grossing movies of 1975.  It was obvious that it was also riding the coattails of Jaws, which Alan Hale Jr namechecks at one point.  Hale was one of the main names in this, and probably the most recognizable as he had played the Skipper on Gilligan's Island, a fact that the script doesn't ignore.  Both Barbara Hale and Steve Brodie were veteran actors as was Bill Williams, Barbara Hale's husband, who has a bit part as bar owner Dutch.  Kevin Brodie, who plays a young journalist, is also Steve Brodie's son.  Co-writer Easton is also memorable as the despicable Kester, dating a waitress behind his wife's back and hitting on her younger sister. 

This movie was made popular again in the 1990s by Mystery Science Theater 3000, but it is one of those bad movies that still works on its own.  Rebane likes to keep things moving and tries to make sure there are no boring parts.  Some of the big action scenes ended up cut due to accidents or budget reasons, but what is here is still a lot of fun, especially since he obviously got the whole town of Gleason in on it.  

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

Time: 84 minutes

Starring: Steve Brodie, Barbara Hale, Robert Easton, Leslie Parrish, Kevin Brodie, Diane Lee Hart, Alan Hale Jr.